Crown Prince Challenged (31 page)

“Next we're going to jump out of the field over that stone wall,” Jack said, “and as you continue along the trail, jump the ditch across the path. It's flagged, so you'll have no trouble spotting it. Be sure to keep your eyes up. If you look down into the ditch, your horse will feel your head drop and sense that you're worried. I'll be waiting for you.” French Twist didn't hesitate when Jack rode him toward the stone wall, and soon his hoofbeats sounded faintly in the distance. The other riders followed in order.

Prince had some experience jumping stone walls, and even though this one was good-sized, he approached it boldly. After landing lightly, he cantered along the trail until Sarah could see the markers on each side of the ditch. She was concentrating on looking ahead, loving the feel of her powerful horse propelling them forward, when suddenly she felt Prince lose impulsion. Coming into the ditch, he slowed dramatically. Sarah followed her instinct to look down at what had caught her horse's attention, realizing too late what she had done. Even though she sat deeply to urge him forward with her seat and reached back with her crop the way she'd seen Paige do it and smacked her horse's side, it made no difference. Crown Prince slid to a stop in front of the ditch and snorted as he stood looking down into its cavernous bottom.

Prince had stopped! It was the first time he had ever refused a jump, and Sarah was mortified. She sat quietly for a moment, letting him look down inside the deep opening with its sides revetted by telephone poles. Prince snorted again, backing away from the ditch as Jack rode back to them.

“Paige will be coming.” Jack said. “Let's get the horses off the trail until she goes by.” Soon after they turned their horses into the woods, Paige and McDuff approached. As if he had learned his lesson, the bay Morgan sailed over the ditch and went to wait with the other horses.

Jack looked at his watch. “I'm afraid we don't have time to address this situation right now,” he said to Sarah. “'Twouldn't be fair to hold the others up, so I suggest we bring Prince back tomorrow afternoon.” As they walked their horses around the ditch, Prince shied away from it and snorted again. Sarah noticed that Rita's eyebrows were arched and a faint smile was on her lips when they joined the group.

Riding back to the barn, most of the riders talked in glowing terms about their cross-country ride, but Sarah was quiet. She was in shock that Prince had for the first time refused to jump when she asked him. When they reached the parking area and Kayla waved goodbye to the class, Sarah continued beside her toward the Romanos' trailer. “Tough break,” Kayla said.

Sarah knew just what she was talking about. “Maybe I made a mistake deciding to let Prince do the Wexford Hall event,” she said. “Maybe I'm rushing him. Maybe he hasn't had enough time on woods trails, and he showed it by having the heebie-jeebies when he saw that ditch. I'm glad Fanny's going so well, but maybe I'm expecting too much of Prince.”

“Look, Sarah,” Kayla began. “Prince just needs to learn there's no boogie man that's going to pop out of that ditch and grab him. It's a horse's nature to fear a hole in the ground, going back to when they had predators lurking in dark places. Fanny wouldn't have gone over that ditch so willingly if she hadn't jumped lots of them in the game preserve near my house.”

Sarah hung her head as she reached down to stroke her horse's neck. “That's it, totally—Prince's lack of experience. Maybe I should tell Jack to take me off the team.”

Kayla was taken aback “How can you think of giving up so soon? Jack's going to work with you and Prince tomorrow. Don't you think you should at least give it a try? Come on—buck up, kid.”

When Sarah got home that afternoon, she tried to act as if nothing had happened. She knew how her parents would react if they heard this latest development. They could always backtrack on their decision to let her compete at Wexford Hall if they were convinced Prince wasn't ready to compete. She'd be off the team in a heartbeat. During dinner, Sarah pretended it had been just another day at the farm. She was relieved when Abby's excited talk about a school project demanded their attention.

As Sarah rode her bike to the barn the next day, she considered what she could do to help her horse get over his fear of the ditch. One thing she would
not
do is look down as they approached it. It was possible Prince's problem was entirely her fault. She must have let him down.

Jack suggested she have Prince ready to ride at four o'clock, when he had no lesson scheduled. That gave her plenty of time to do Prince's stall and warm up in the outside ring. She had just finished trotting some schooling figures when she saw Jack come out of the barn on foot followed by Kathleen on Wichita. As Sarah walked Prince out of the ring to meet them, Kathleen offered her an encouraging smile.

“Good old Wichita will provide Prince with a lead today,” Jack said. “It should bolster his confidence.” He started toward the trail that led to the ditch, with the two horses falling in beside him. “The challenge we have with your horse is not a problem of a fence being too high or too wide; his dilemma is in his head, the hardest of all problems to address. He fears the unknown. He's afraid of what might be in the ditch that he can't see as he approaches it.”

Sarah half-halted Prince, who, with his long stride, was getting ahead of Jack and Wichita. “How can we make him know there's nothing to be afraid of?” she asked.

“You'll see,” Jack replied. They entered the trail, with Prince and Wichita walking ahead of Jack and occasionally stopping to wait for him. As they neared the ditch, Sarah could feel tension rising in her horse, and he nervously chomped on the bit. “Halt for a minute,” Jack called out, catching up with the horses. He walked ahead to inspect the ditch carefully. “Lucky for us, this ditch is fairly wide, at least three feet, making it more visible to him,” Jack said. “With mainly sand on its bottom, he'll see there are no snakes or wild tigers hiding in there.” He beckoned for them to join him.

Kathleen halted Wichita as they approached the ditch, leaving Sarah to walk her horse forward for a closer look. Prince reluctantly took a few steps before putting on the brakes, looking warily at the ditch in front of him. “One thing we must avoid is beating him across the ditch,” Jack said. “A quick smack with your crop can be helpful when a horse hesitates, but if you beat a horse over something, he will always be afraid of it.”

Jack walked to Prince's head, rubbing him gently and talking reassuringly to him. After taking hold of the reins, he clucked to the horse, asking him to move forward. Sarah also used her aids, and Prince walked closer and closer to the ditch. Finally he was looking down into it, his wide eyes showing white around the edges. Jack dropped the reins, and after slowly lowering himself into the ditch, he began walking from one end to the other, trying to appear as relaxed as possible and whistling softly. Prince watched him intently, his tense body poised to jump back. After a few minutes, Jack climbed out and led Prince around the ditch to the other side. The same exercise was repeated.

“He's looked into the ditch from both directions and he's seen that I wasn't swallowed up,” Jack said. “Now Wichita can help us.” He beckoned to Kathleen to join them. “Sarah, 'tis important you remain calm at all times. He needs to sense you're not afraid, that you're in command, and that he can rely on you.”

Kathleen brought Wichita to Crown Prince's side, and they listened to Jack's directions. “I want both of you to trot to the stone wall, turn, and with Wichita in the lead, approach the ditch at a trot. It should be less challenging for Prince to jump the ditch heading for home with Wichita going in front of him. Stay firm yet relaxed, Sarah, and keep looking ahead.”

Sarah gulped and took a deep breath as she asked Prince to trot down the trail following Wichita. When they reached the stone wall, Kathleen smiled. “I've seen many horses with this same problem. Jack always turns them around.” Sarah took a deep breath. Kathleen's encouragement made her feel so much better.

They turned their horses, and once Wichita was trotting away, Sarah asked Prince to follow him several horses' lengths behind. She applied pressure against his sides with her legs while keeping a firm contact with the reins. Prince knew what was coming—his head was up with his ears pricked forward. Wichita soon reached the ditch, and after willingly jumping over it, cantered easily down the trail away from them.

At that moment, Sarah felt Prince hesitate, and she responded by sitting deeply in the saddle and urging him on with her legs and seat.
Go, Prince,
go! her heart cried out to her horse. Suddenly, a stride before the ditch, Prince gathered himself, and with a tremendous leap, launched them extremely high in the air and over the ditch. Sarah found herself laughing as he landed and took off down the trail, soon catching up to Wichita. Both riders pulled their horses up and rode back to Jack. He clapped his hands and shouted, “Excellent! Now come back, and we'll do it again from the opposite direction.”

The horses jumped the ditch several more times, until Prince no longer over-jumped it or showed any hesitation in his approach. And he no longer needed Wichita's lead. Finally, Jack asked Sarah to jump Prince over the ditch heading for home and continue cantering to the barn. As Prince ran down the path after jumping the ditch, Sarah was beaming. She slowed her horse to walk when they got to the farm's gravel roadway and threw her arms around his neck. “You wonderful horse!” Sarah cried out. She was proud and elated.

* * * * *

Over the next few weeks, Sarah followed an intense training program with Crown Prince that Jack mapped out for them. When she arrived at the farm after school, she and her horse first worked on dressage movements in the outdoor sand ring, and when Jack was free, he helped her train over one or more of the cross-country obstacles on the property. Sometimes Kathleen or Lindsay would take one of Jack's lessons to free him up to work with Sarah. Often Jack would be mounted on French Twist, so he could provide a lead horse, if needed.

During a long stretch of outstanding May weather, Sarah and Prince made significant progress. The telephone-pole-to-bank combination in the meadow near the barn became old hat to them. “He's learned to do a bank and a drop in one obstacle,” Jack pointed out.

One afternoon, Jack had them approach the white gate from the north hay field, and after jumping it, continue at canter toward the ditch. Although Prince shortened his stride coming into it, he jumped the ditch without hesitation. After spending several days splashing through the brook, a small coop was placed at the edge of the water. Sarah was thrilled when Prince jumped the coop and landed directly in the brook the first time he was asked. He seemed to find jumping into water exciting, and after landing, he splashed through the brook and up the bank on the other side.

Jack considered one obstacle, a huge stone wall that separated two fields, too big for Sarah's horse. Other obstacles asked technical questions, and Jack felt they were also too challenging for them.
Prince's time will come,
Sarah thought. O
ne
of these days he'll soar over everything as if he has wings!

AS THE WEXFORD HALL EVENT
got closer, Jack called a Saturday afternoon meeting of the team members and their parents. It was time to go over their plans for the competition. Gus had brought extra chairs into the lounge so everyone could be seated comfortably. Anticipating the meeting might be crowded, Mrs. DeWitt had left her terriers at home. Tim's mother surprised everyone with chocolate chip cookies that were eagerly sampled by the group. Sarah was surprised when Derek and his parents showed up. “Derek wants to volunteer to be water boy for the team,” Mrs. Alexander said jokingly, “and we just want to cheer for the team.”

Jack stood on the fireplace hearth so everyone could see and hear him easily. “Thanks for coming,” he began. “The Wexford Hall event will be here before we know it, and we need to discuss what you can expect. This should be an exciting competition for our riders and the stable manager. Tim, Rita, Kayla, and Sarah will be able to show how well trained their horses are and how well they can ride. In addition to taking care of her own horse, Kelly's been studying a few books on horse care and eventing so she can offer support to the riders.”

I just hope Kelly won't have a chip on her shoulder,
Sarah worried.
It would be nice if everyone on this team could get along and work together.

“We'll be travelling to Wexford Hall on Thursday, the fifteenth of June,” Jack continued, “and we're grateful Richard Snyder has offered us the use of his four-horse gooseneck trailer and the new truck that pulls it. His employee, Judson, will be driving the horses to Belmont. Between the Brookmeade Farm pickup and the Snyder's truck, we'll be able to provide transportation for the five team members. Tack will go in the trailer's dressing room, with tack trunks in the truck.”

Sarah thought of her father's old-fashioned steamer trunk that doubled for her tack trunk. It would stand out like a sore thumb compared to the gorgeous modern tack trunks the others had, but her trunk served its purpose.

“The horses will be put up in temporary stabling under a large tent,” Jack continued, “and our team will have one additional stall for storing our feed, shavings, and tack. This will be the stable manager's headquarters, and I'll be going over Kelly's job with her separately. I plan on bringing hay and bagged shavings in the Brookmeade truck, along with feed tubs and water buckets. For Fanny and Chancellor, we ask you to bring your own grain, so they're fed what they're used to getting at home. Please have individual meals divided into small paper bags with labels, which will be a huge help to Kelly when she's feeding the horses. Your individual paper bags should be stored in a small plastic barrel with a top that has your name on it.”